Ralph Reed tells it like it is

Sure, the enfant terrible of the religious right made himself out to be Evangelical Rambo when he told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot back in 1991, “I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don’t know it’s over until you’re in a body bag.” But that’s exactly what happened when, as chair of Georgia’s Republican Party in 2002, he quietly mobilized white evangelicals and booted out a Democratic establishment that never knew what hit it.

Dude likes to call his shots. And unlike most political operatives, when he blows smoke, there’s plenty of enlightening dope in it.

Take the recent interview he gave to the Christian Post. His Faith and Freedom Coalition has, he claims, micro-targeted 29 million “social conservatives.” The agenda is to get them to provide the resources to mobilize voters.

But which voters? Will there be any mobilization for the primary battles of the civil war within the GOP? Social conservative groups are, he said,

probably more with the outside groups. But I think [their] modus operandi is probably a little different, and they probably have a better relationship with Republican leadership on the Hill than some of the other outside groups do, largely because a lot of those leaders are strongly pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family.

Translate this and what you’ve got is a signal that the religious right want to sit out the civil war. The Family Research Council, Concerned Women of America, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and FFC may like “the outside groups” — FreedomWorks, Tea Party Patriots, the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Madison Project et al. — but they’ve been inside the GOP tent for third of a century, and many of the insiders are friends.

Reed, who has always been more of an insider than an outsider himself, is saying that, at the end of the day, the religious right will stick with the establishment. I believe it.

Mark Silk

Mark Silk is Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College and director of the college's Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. He is a Contributing Editor of the Religion News Service

5 Comments

Kevan Scott

Ralph Reed represents to me everything that is anathema about being Christian. Lots of hypocrisy, with a few of the words of Jesus thrown in to con the unwitting into supporting all that is opposite of Jesus. I consider him, and his religious right to be the face of hate disguised as Christian. You only need to look at what is said about our President on a daily basis by these people as proof of what I say. The amount of hate that is spoken by supposed followers of Christ is disgusting and appalling!

Patricia

Like what “hate”. I get so sick of hearing “hate”, “racism, etc. And see no examples of them in the right, only accusations. For heaven’s sake, if telling the truth amounts to hate or racism, don’t we really have a bigger problem than and left will admit. I don’t get it. For instance, I am more libertarian when it comes to abortion and contraception. Although I am Catholic, I won’t condemn another for his beliefs. Not my business….BUT, it is not the governments’s business either. I resent paying for decisions of others.

Pastor Ed

Patricia, “like hate” is right. Seems that RailRoad Reed is in that camp, as you say. With his billionaire business clients and his political campaign clients all exchanging money and legislative favors through his and Tim Phillips brokerage service (er, consulting firm), Jesus basically is working for free. Or a pseudo-Jesus that seems to con Reed’s followers.

It works exceedingly well for Reed and Phillips. they can pull in their millions at the expense of the Church and the Christian message. How many would be Christians have been turned away at the door because Reed was blocking it, his hypocrisy and cunning, money laundering and tossing the poor under the bus? No wonder he and his operatives can’t stand Pope Francis–he won’t worship their false god.

When Reed was exposed in the casino scandals and internet lottery consulting, Pat Robertson was asked for a comment. “You can’t serve both God and mammon,” he said. At last Jesus’ words were correctly applied to Reed. There’s another one about those who lead the innocent astray. “Better a millstone be tied around their neck” and be thrown into the sea. The judgment is coming and Jesus said it–they may have called him “Lord, Lord,” but they did NOT do what he said to do. Words are nothing. The heart is everything.

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Having just reconnected with my eastern relatives on Facebook I was not surprised by the right wing bigoted cliches and quotes from patriotic Christians that seemed to claim that Christianity was somehow under attack from left wing commie pinkos and the ilk that they oppose.I’m not religious but when I hear and see the antics of that PAC MAN RALPH REED I now know that these folks have an agenda that has nothing to do with a personal relationships with God but a means to fleece the flock.They use religious double speak and have mastered the tactics of misdirection on unsuspecting pastors and congregations to line their pockets and like good sheep following their trusted shepherd in the thought that they are doing the right thing,then surprised when they have led to slaughter by the un trustworthy shepard. RALPH REED IS BACK PULLING THE STRINGS, WHAT HYPOCRISY WILL HE FOIST ON THE FAITHFUL, WHAT DOES HE REALLY WANT.I KNOW REVISIONIST HISTORY AND RALPH REED AND HIS BUNCH ARE TRYING TO IMPOSE CHRISTIAN REVISIONIST HISTORY ON AMERICA.I’VE HAD IT I JUST TURNED ATHIEST….SORRY JESUS

About Mark Silk

Mark Silk is Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College and director of the college's Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. He is a Contributing Editor of the Religion News Service